Also, while not in the roundup itself, Carol just posted an open letter to President Obama at Rasco from RIF that is a true must-read for everyone who cares about children's literacy. She starts with praise:

"it was gratifying and encouraging to see news stories about your trip to the local Washington, DC bookstore with your daughters over the Thanksgiving holiday. What a great example you set for all parents and caregivers by showing the importance of children having choice in selection of books and actually obtaining books to own, both highly researched principles necessary to building strong reading and literacy skills in children and youth."

But then she goes on to question, quite respectfully, how someone who cares about literacy and book choice for kids could have recommended taking away RIF's federal funding, and that of other literacy organizations. She makes what I think is a very good point, and quite eloquently.

Moving on, here are a couple of other tidbits that I've run across this week, too late to share with Carol for the roundup:

This Saturday, December 3rd, is the second annual Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day (via the Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf newsletter). What could be more perfect during the holiday season? Well, I may instead celebrate "Take Your Child to the Library to Donate Boxes of Review Books to Needy Children Day", but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Another program (in addition to the Guys Lit Wire Book Fair mentioned above) that is working to get books into the hands of teens is the YALSA Books for Teens effort. Here's the information that Alicia Blowers, YALSA chair for this effort, sent me: "Books for Teens mission is to empower the nation’s at-risk teens to achieve more by providing them with free high quality, new, age-appropriate books. Funds raised through Books for Teens will be distributed to libraries in communities with a high level of poverty, where teen services librarians will purchase and distribute new books, encourage teens to get library cards and provide teens with reading-focused events and activities. During the month of December, we are hoping to raise $500. If we can meet our fundraising goal, a generous donor has agreed to provide a matching donation." See also the Facebook fan page.

A friend at the Santa Clara Library Children's Department shared with me this great list of Librarian-Selected Apps that the Darien Libary is including on their early literacy iPads. These are librarian-vetted apps that, while fun, also help to build early literacy skills. Me, I'm keeping this list in mind for when 20-month-old Baby Bookworm is a tiny bit older (though we have dabbled already).

And that's all I have for today. But I do hope you'll check out the full roundup at Carol's. We'll be back mid-month with another children's literacy and reading news roundup. In the meantime, thanks for caring about children's literacy. Wishing you all a wonderful start to the holiday season!

Also, while not in the roundup itself, Carol just posted an open letter to President Obama at Rasco from RIF that is a true must-read for everyone who cares about children's literacy. She starts with praise:

"it was gratifying and encouraging to see news stories about your trip to the local Washington, DC bookstore with your daughters over the Thanksgiving holiday. What a great example you set for all parents and caregivers by showing the importance of children having choice in selection of books and actually obtaining books to own, both highly researched principles necessary to building strong reading and literacy skills in children and youth."

But then she goes on to question, quite respectfully, how someone who cares about literacy and book choice for kids could have recommended taking away RIF's federal funding, and that of other literacy organizations. She makes what I think is a very good point, and quite eloquently.

Moving on, here are a couple of other tidbits that I've run across this week, too late to share with Carol for the roundup:

This Saturday, December 3rd, is the second annual Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day (via the Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf newsletter). What could be more perfect during the holiday season? Well, I may instead celebrate "Take Your Child to the Library to Donate Boxes of Review Books to Needy Children Day", but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Another program (in addition to the Guys Lit Wire Book Fair mentioned above) that is working to get books into the hands of teens is the YALSA Books for Teens effort. Here's the information that Alicia Blowers, YALSA chair for this effort, sent me: "Books for Teens mission is to empower the nation’s at-risk teens to achieve more by providing them with free high quality, new, age-appropriate books. Funds raised through Books for Teens will be distributed to libraries in communities with a high level of poverty, where teen services librarians will purchase and distribute new books, encourage teens to get library cards and provide teens with reading-focused events and activities. During the month of December, we are hoping to raise $500. If we can meet our fundraising goal, a generous donor has agreed to provide a matching donation." See also the Facebook fan page.

A friend at the Santa Clara Library Children's Department shared with me this great list of Librarian-Selected Apps that the Darien Libary is including on their early literacy iPads. These are librarian-vetted apps that, while fun, also help to build early literacy skills. Me, I'm keeping this list in mind for when 20-month-old Baby Bookworm is a tiny bit older (though we have dabbled already).

And that's all I have for today. But I do hope you'll check out the full roundup at Carol's. We'll be back mid-month with another children's literacy and reading news roundup. In the meantime, thanks for caring about children's literacy. Wishing you all a wonderful start to the holiday season!

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